Minecraft on Xbox 360 Is Cross Platform, but You Can’t Play with PS and PC & Here’s Why

The Xbox 360 console has been around for quite some time now. In terms of its release date, it’s even older than Minecraft itself. With newer consoles constantly getting released, it’s hard to imagine that someone playing Minecraft on an Xbox 360 console would ever get the chance to play with a user running Minecraft on a PS4, for example, so could you? Is Minecraft on Xbox 360 cross-platform?

What’s considered cross-platform in Minecraft?

When talking about a cross-platform game, it usually means that it can be played on multiple devices. Cross-platform play is when the game on different devices can be played in multiplayer mode no matter the device your friends have. Regarding Minecraft, cross-platform play would be if a person using the Xbox 360 could play with a person using a PS4 or Nintendo Switch, for example.

PC Minecraft players are included in this, but not every PC Minecraft player can play with console users. If the PC player turns out to be a Java Edition user, unfortunately, there’s no way for you and your friend to play the game together. That is unless your friend has Windows 10 Edition Minecraft.

Why is Java Edition excluded?

Java Edition Minecraft, although it was the first Minecraft game ever released and every other base version of Minecraft was made according to it, can’t be played with console users. It’s an entirely different game, even though it doesn’t seem like it at first. The problem is in how Minecraft Java was developed and how others were.

Minecraft Java, as the name suggests, was coded using the Java programming language, whereas every other version of Minecraft was built from the ground up and coded using C++. This makes the game for consoles more stable and powerful and completely removes the chance for you ever to play together.

In the eyes of the machines used to play the games, it’s like someone who plays Minecraft is trying to join an online server made for Roblox or Terraria. It’s simply not possible because they have entirely different servers. As the years go by, what worries Java Edition players is that Mojang will completely shut down support for the game and won’t ever receive any more updates, as is the case with Minecraft for Xbox 360.

Minecraft for Xbox 360

Xbox 360 was released way back in 2005. That means the console was released almost 19 years ago. If we compared the console to a natural person, it would be the equivalent of a 70-year-old person. Technology advances fast and what seemed like the peak of technology in 2005 likely belongs in a museum in 2023.

I don’t think you can purchase a new Xbox 360 anymore unless you bought it second-hand. Such is the faith that awaits all consoles, but is it still possible to buy Minecraft for this console? It is, but it’s a lot cheaper, and for a good reason. You’ll pay 20 USD for this version of Minecraft, which is 10 USD cheaper than other versions.

Why is that? Since the console is very old, Mojang stopped giving support and making updates available for the game on this console. At first, only the legacy console editions of the game suffered, but as of 2021, the support shut down for the console as a whole. Although you can still buy the game, you’d be at a significant disadvantage for several reasons.

One of the most significant disadvantages of the version is that you can’t update to newer versions after the Aquatic update in 2018. This would mean that although playing with PC and PS4 users is possible, the server you’re running would have to be 1.13 or lower, and your friend would need to run the same version.

That means no epic caves that came with the Caves & Cliffs update, no excellent Nether Update, no Wild Update, and many more. If you’re okay playing like this, that’s fine, but most wouldn’t be, so is it possible to get a different version of Minecraft for free so you could get access to all the updates?

Get the Xbox 360 version, or get the PC version for free?

Sadly, console users weren’t eligible to get the Windows 10 Edition of Minecraft for free when the version was released. Xbox One players could play it using their Xbox Game Pass, but Xbox 360 is not included. You cannot play newer Minecraft versions with your friends unless you purchase the game for a new console or your PC.

Why can’t you cross-platform on Xbox 360?

Although I said it’s possible to cross-platform on Xbox 360, that’s only possible in theory. In reality, there’s no way for your friends who play on different consoles to downgrade to a previous update of Minecraft, which is required if they wish to play with you. It’s impossible to access a server running a 1.14 version of Minecraft if you’ve updated to the 1.19 update.

Java Edition Minecraft can be downgraded, but it’s impossible to downgrade any Bedrock Edition. It’s said that it would be possible if you deleted the game and installed it again, so you might want to try that out. If it doesn’t work, there’s no way to play cross-platform with other Bedrock Edition users.

Cross-platform play with PC users

Since Minecraft Java Edition can be modded to oblivion and there are numerous plugins that passionate Minecraft players have made, it is now possible for Java Edition users to play together with Bedrock Edition users if the Java Edition users download the GeyserMC plugin. Since Java Edition users can downgrade to previous versions of Minecraft, this is the only way to play with your friends.

Are Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition and Minecraft for Xbox 360 the same?

In the past, the two editions weren’t one and the same. Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition was developed by a different company and hadn’t received updates for years. Minecraft for Xbox 360 was released under the same title for all platforms, but as the years have gone by, the support for the game on this platform also ceased to exist. Even though they weren’t the same in the past, today, they are, and players face the same problems no matter the version they’re running.

The Xbox 360 Edition, Playstation 3 Edition, and many others were all sold under the Legacy Console Edition title. Support was pulled for all Legacy Console Editions, and it was only a matter before support died for older consoles. Nowadays, Mojang offers support for Java Edition, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows 10 Edition Minecraft.

Will Mojang shutdown Minecraft Java

Since Mojang has already shut down support for many platforms and versions of the game, it’s easy to fear that Minecraft Java Edition will eventually meet the same faith. They already released Bedrock Edition Minecraft for PCs, so why wouldn’t they? The outrage from the community would be massive if they shut it down at once, so many players theorize that it’ll happen eventually, but slowly.

The problem the two companies have with the version is that it doesn’t bring them any money. Bedrock Edition Minecraft can’t be modded for free, whereas Java Edition can be. You buy the game once and don’t have any additional costs. This doesn’t make Mojang or Microsoft any money which translates to bad business for them.

They invest resources into the game every year. Still, at one point, Java Edition will reach the point of diminishing returns since all the money it makes from the competition is when somebody purchases it. Nobody knows if it will shut down, and we can only hope it won’t, but hope is a…let’s not end the sentence.

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